Improvement in explosive shells



B. B. HOTGHKISS.

Shell.

Patentel May 2, 1865. f

trier..

B. n. Horcnkrss, or New YORK, n. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN EXPLOSIVE SHELLS.

Specification forming pai-t of Letters Patent No. ldli, dated May 2. 1865..

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, B. B. HoTcHKIss, of the city and county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Projectiles for Ordnance, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of the construction and operation of the same.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification.

Figures l to 4, inclusive, are longitudinal central sections of projectiles constructed accordingto my invention. Fig. 5 is a crosssection on the lineS S in Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a cross-section on the line T T in Fig. 4i.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts inall the drawings.

The obj ects of my invention are to strengthen the projectile and to avoid danger of ignition of the contents of the projectile by friction.

My invention may be applied to hollow projectiles of all kinds and of all sizes. lt is chiefly desirable, however, on the large sizes of elongated projectiles used in large riiied ordnance.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, l will proceed to describe it by the aid of the drawings and of the letters of reference denoted thereon.

. A A, die., is the shell or main casting, which forms the exterior of the forward and principal portion of the projectile. The fuse-hole c at the front is adapted to communicate hre to the contents of the space within the casting A by the employment of a fuse orits equivlent, as represented. The space or cavity in the interior of' the casting A is intended to be iilled or nearly filled with gunpowder, guncotton, fulminates, or other explosive material, either alone or in combination with bullets or other destructible missiles, or to be filled with port-fire or other incendiary or offensive material, to allow the shell or projectile to be used in the same manner and for the same purposes as other projectiles. 'B B B are longitudinal ribs or webs extending inward from theinner surface of the shell A nearly to the axis of the projectile. They may be cast as a part of the same casting as the shell A, (this condition is shown in Fig. 6;) or they may be previously made of wroughtiron or other suitable material, and inserted in the core or otherwise properly introduced ture explosiono into the mold, so that they shall be embraced and rmly held at their outer edges by the casting A, as shown in Fig. 5. They may eX- tend the entire length ofthe cavity of the proj ectile, or to any less distance as may be pre ferred.

C C, Src., are ribs similarly castor joined on the inner surface of the shell A, but standing in a position transverse to the ribs or webs B. They may extend around the interior of the shell, either circularly, as indicated in Fig. l, or spirally, as indicated in Fig. 2. Either the circular or the spiral form may be produced without difficulty by a skilled molder accustomed to the construction and use of complex cores in casting. Either form may be made by inserting properly-'struck pieces of wrought or plate iron in the cores; but l prefer, generally to produce them by making proper deep recesses in the cores, so that the shell A and the webs C shall be made at a single pouring and form part of a single casting. B, running either directly or spirally from front to rear, and the webs C, running either directly or spirally around both, contribute to greatly strengthen the shell A. Either may be used alone-that is to say, the webs B may be of service without the webs C, and the webs C may be of service without the webs B but l prefer to employ both, arranged as shown in the Figs. 1 and 5.

In addition to the strengthening of the projectile, and thus aiding to resist the intense concussion to which the material is exposed, when red with heavy charges of powder impelling it, there is a very important function performed by these webs in limiting the motion, and consequently the friction, of the contents against the inner face of the shell A. When a projectile starts violently forward, and with the riiied or spinning motion in being discharged from a riiied gun, the contents of the cavity tend by their inertia to hold back and resist both these motions. This induces such a rubbing of the sensitive powder or other material against the hand and rough interior of the ordinary shell, A, as to frequently ignite the matter and induce a prema- Th'e recent report of gentlemen appointed to investigate the alarming instances of premature explosion of shells, and the kindred questions of the bursting of guns, which depends greatly thereon, has officially The webs indorsed this proposition. My webs B and C eifectually cheek any such motion. The webs B prevent the powder, &c., from twisting around' within the shell, or rather from refusing to twist with the shell when the shell commences to do so, and the webs C prevent it from setting backward in the shell, or rather from refusing to move forward when the shell commences to do so. I can dispose a single web spirally, so as to provide asuitable resistance to both motions. This is indicated by the spiral position of the webs C in Fig. 2, which may be made just sufficiently pitched to allow the webs B to be dispensed with, provided the guns from which the projectile is liable to be fired are all riiied, with the twist in the same direction, and exactly uniform; but it is for most reasons preferable to use two sets of ribs or webs, as shown in the drawings.

The webs C, as also the webs B, may be variously inclined or curved; or they may be made plane, as preferred.'

The ordinary well-known means of removing the material of cores will serve to clear the interiors of my shells; and Ihave found no difficulty in properly lling the complex pockets in the interior of my shell with powder, &c., even when the webs are made very greatly inclined and curved or bent.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

The employment of the webs B and C, or either of them, arranged to extend from the inner surface of a shell nearly to the center or axis, substantially in the manner and so as to serve the double purposes herein set forth.

n. B. HoToHKiss.

\Vitnesses:

THoMAs D. Srn'rsoN, D. XV. STnTsoN. 

